This invention relates generally to apparatus for signalling subscriber usage of a cable television service and more particularly to a cable television (CATV) distribution system where pay for use television signals are distributed. In such a television distribution system it is necessary to monitor or record the utilization of the pay TV channels to enable billing for use or consumption thereof to be done.
Numerous techniques have been devised to bill subscribers of a cable television system for access to television signals carried on the system. Subscribers may pay a fixed monthly or weekly charge for access to the system. They may pay on a per-program basis or on a per unit-of-use basis.
This invention is for use in conjunction with billing on a per unit-of-use basis. It will be appreciated that such billing may be the only billing charged a subscriber or that such billing may be in addition to a fixed charge billing system or any other billing that may be conceived of by a cable operator.
In the past, to achieve a per unit-of-use billing many systems have been proposed. One example is the coin box type system as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,021,383 wherein each subscriber is provided with a coin box into which the subscriber must deposit money to gain timed access to television signals carried on the system. It will be appreciated that operation of such a system is labour intensive as personnel must be dispatched to empty the coin boxes on a frequent basis. Moreover, each subscriber is required to have the necessary coins on-hand to activate the coin boxes.
Another approach is to provide an access number for access by subscribers wishing to have access to television signals carried on the cable network that must be dialled by each subscriber desiring access. Such a system may become overloaded when a large number of subscribers call in to request access.
As may be appreciated, the foregoing systems inherently have a number of deficiencies including system complexity, intensive labour requirements and reliance on subscriber equipment or action to retrieve payment or billing information.